There's an important social reason incomes aren't rising in America

a reply to: JBIZZ
if we replace all those federal programs with just one program, we'd probably save money because of less staffing needs and have a better idea as to just how much money (value wise) we are giving to some people. knowing this would probably help when it came to managing the overall economy.

a reply to: JBIZZ

How would that work?
Say I make $22,000, and have a hard time making ends meet.....do those people get enough to get $8000 in aid?
Say I make $33000, but cannot afford healthcare?

I agree having one program would help cut admin costs....and some of the dead wood now in those programs!

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Under my idea of a UBI, If you make $22k or $33k at your job, you'd receive an additional $20-30k UBI. The only people who wouldn't receive it are those under 18, as well as, those who are not a US citizen & those who receive a government pension. If one has a job they still receive it. This can be done under current tax brackets.

a reply to: JBIZZ

Sweet!
What if one is retired, and gets a modest city pension and small social security check?
Would they qualify under your plan?

Lots of people get government pensions.....doesn't mean they are a living income/wage.

a reply to: dawnstar

Exactly, it would end most of the racketeering in government.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Yes, only people who receive federal funded pensions would not be allowed to receive it. The parameters could be changed to make it more streamlined. It's just a basic concept, which demonstrates the wasteful spending in government. Social security may need to be eliminated but it's infrastructure could be used to implement a UBI. The UBI would replace social security.

originally posted by: loam
a reply to: Aazadan

Could and would are two different things. If everyone suddenly has this new cash, how do you prevent sellers of goods and services from raising prices to match what the market can bare? Moreover, you haven't explained how you would prevent capital from fleeing?

Are we going full Soviet here?

Competition keeps prices down.

You haven't yet explained why capital would flee?

Insourcing(immigration) and outsourcing(free trade) have killed our standard of living. Get rid of those, and you'll see many problems being solved.

My idea of a UBI may be opposed by many on the left & right. Some on the left may oppose it because it makes the federal government physically smaller & eliminates many government programs. Some on the right may oppose it because they consider it as a form of socialism. If done right it's the best blend of both worlds. It can offer a financial safety net to nearly every citizen & promote a free-market at the same time. The only downside is some career politicians & corporations will not get to continue their rackets. I consider myself a conservative but I realize that the federal government can never be fiscally smaller due to the fractional reserve banking system & central bank planning. As long as the federal government is physically smaller & has less power, I'm happy.

a reply to: thesaneone

RAMPANT planned obsolescence.
More durable goods that can be repaired or modified by the user are required.

a reply to: JBIZZ

Something needs to be done.
Folks working 3 part-time jobs, folks with small local government pensions, folks with no pensions, folks with a full-time job that is too small to keep them afloat.

Only thing, those on Social Security do not pay federal income taxes on part of that money...something like that needs to be kept....IMHO.
And, Medicare needs to be kept in place....as long as healthcare in the US is in a shambles.

raise taxes on the wealthiest people.....this is not discussed in any MSM, and yet decade after decade, those people have had huge cuts in personal taxes, at the same time increasing their income much more than the bottom 95% of earners.....screw them, they will SOMEHOW get by....and can we end the myth that giving tax breaks to the wealthy creates jobs?......no such data exists, even though it is constantly being parroted by the well-off as factual.

Apple computer , as of feb 1, 2017, had 246 billion dollars off shore IN CASH...........money.cnn.com... tell me how that is helping the American economy and American workers......trump and the congressional republicans are foaming at the mouth to get corporate tax cuts legislated.....and Apple is just the tip of the iceberg in the business world, as to the hoarding of massive profits......
combine that with the federal minimum wage set at 7.25 an hour since 2009......and then tell me one business executive who has been at the same income per year since 2009?.....all you hear from most economists is that it is all about productivity.....uh huh.....apparently the wealthiest do not get hit with that measure, since their incomes rise regardless.

originally posted by: Abysha

originally posted by: ventian
That's hilarious. Wonder if he stopped to realize that this is the same generation that can't go 2 minutes without social networking. Did he even proofread what he was writing? What a tool.

Hah! No doubt!

By default, we are the most "networked" humans that has ever existed.

hahaha! so on point with that post, the hypocrisy

originally posted by: dawnstar
so, the generation of twitter, facebook, who practically live attached to their electronic devices isn't networked enough???
sorry, but this seems to be one of the lamest, most nonsensical excuse I've heard.
100-200 cellphone service....
really? my son currently has three jobs, and still he is barely making ends meet. his cell, which is the only phone service he has, costs him a whopping $30/month! for some reason, I don't think it's his cellphone that is the problem! and, he's far from lazy, he's usually working two to three jobs, or he is mowing lawns in his free time. he'd love to go to college, but no so badly that he's willing to put himself so far into debt that he can't get out. he'd rather have a job in manufacturing, but it seems all of those are hired through temp agencies and those long bouts of unemployment is hell on him! all in all, he makes out better with his one or two or three $9 hour jobs in the convenience stores in the long run.

open your ears and hear what these kids are saying!! our economy isn't allowing them to follow the same path through life as we did. they are finding it hard to stand on their own, they can't marry with confidence that they will ever support a family, buying a home is only a dream. or at least a lot more of them can't..
and that is affecting the entire economic spectrum!

Great post.

originally posted by: dawnstar
a reply to: JBIZZ
if we replace all those federal programs with just one program, we'd probably save money because of less staffing needs and have a better idea as to just how much money (value wise) we are giving to some people. knowing this would probably help when it came to managing the overall economy.

Maybe we should replace all the $24,000 a year cash in lieu of benefits double dippers out there just feeding off our income taxes while not doing their jobs EI almost everyone working in the government.

buy bitcoin.

a reply to: toysforadults

You should consider reminding your friends who are struggling with finances that smoking a pack a day of cigs and drinking a twelve pack at least twice a week while maintaining triple digit monthly subscriptions to cable/phone/internet packages or just very expensive data packages for their cell phones are not helping.

Stop the waste. Media and entertainment is virtually free now, why are people paying hundreds of dollars for antiquated home entertainment subscriptions??

Cuz they want it now, not 48 hours later thats why.

I have been using the banks philosophy for two years now. Use fake imaginary money (lines of credit) to buy real money (gold and silver bullion). You want to know whats strange?? They know I bought the bullion, so they offer me more imaginary fake money!

And it has been yielding well....

We have to learn to screw them at their own game.

originally posted by: thesaneone

originally posted by: toysforadults

originally posted by: thesaneone
When the average American spends roughly 1-2 hundred dollars a month on their cell phone service not including the few hundred dollars a year that people waste because i need the coolest model, it's not that surprising that your generation is broke.

Yes, cell phones collapsed the economy.

No, but having piss poor priorities will.

What?


In 2017 you need a cell phone, it's not optional. You also need a computer if you don't have an up to date smart phone, as 95% of all jobs you can apply to require internet applications today. What are you even talking about? The priorities are sound, and I don't know anyone who is spending 1-200$ a month on cell service, try 25-50$ a month, between family plan rates and no contract services like Metro or Boost.

Back in the 90's people used to have cable, instead of spending 200$ a month on television, my generation generally spends around 79$ a month on internet and stream their television.

The fact is, our cost of living is cheaper outside of actual living expenses, i.e. Rent, which for some reason property owners think they can charge 1,000$ a month for a shack. Housing has gone up over 35 times since 1970 with no wage bump to match.

The median price of a home sold in the United States in January 1970 was $23,600.
The median price of a home sold in the United States in January 2016 was $365,600.00

240,000 is an increase of 917%, so we're well into 1400% mark ups on the median average.

To put that plainly, you need to earn minimum 34,000$ yearly just to survive on your own -- I don't know many people my age making that. Even people with advanced college degrees and working real jobs like structural engineering are starting at 30k.

The median household income in 2017 is 53,000$ but the amount of people in each house hold is up by 4x. I.E. Kids are living with their parents or rooming up by the quads, which is not something that happened in 1970.

The real problem is government cost too much to run, it's too big to be sustainable and it needs to be shrunk; secondly, there is a problem with corporations and business owners that are making too much profit and not increasing the pay for their employees. It's not trickling down, it's just staying at the top, and the wealthy don't even realize the damage they are doing to the country as a whole, chasing multi-billion dollar annuals.

Everything is out of balance. When you have hollywood actors that are complaining that 16 million a movie isn't enough, that they should be getting 60 million a movie instead is telling of the problem. Acting in a movie is less work than almost all jobs. They get to go play pretend for millions, in two - three years they are grossing hundreds of millions, while we're sitting here starving trying to keep the lights on.

Well...Take a look see at one of those work agreements, ya' know those ones you never read and just plop your signature on?.

I just signed one last week while gritting my teeth in rage just to get a job at all.

Wages are kept low to keep you from affording to get educated enough to fight the danger coming down the line sometime soon.

Back in the day we pooled our money together to keep a lawyer on retainer to stand up for us and protect us from unscrupulous employers.

Unions and happy, productive workers are what built this country

a reply to: JBIZZ


Talked to a retired police officer the other day. Said he paid into SS and the Public Employee Retirement deal but when he retired "they" informed him that he could only draw on one. He said he asked for at least what he put into the PERF and "they" told him no. This sort of theft is very common these days.